In order to maintain a safe and efficient working environment air traffic controllers must communicate directly with other air traffic controllers, pilots, assistants, and others that are responsible for areas and systems associated with their operating domain. This communication may be for different reasons and have many different priority levels and response protocols. All verbal communication directed at an air traffic controller whether via the communications system or by an adjacent controller is received with the same level of priority which, as traffic increases, leads to higher workload and stress. The air traffic controller cannot distinguish the priority of any single message until it has been received and decoded.
Traffic levels and airspace complexity that are within the scope of the controllers designed workspace take into account random reciept of verbal messages and normally would pose no additional problems. However, in recent years the amount of variability in traffic, coordination, and subsequently received verbal message traffic has increased dramatically. There are many factors such as meteorological conditions, economic conditions, etc that contribute to this apparent randomness The normal response to systemic conditions that abnormally overload an air traffic control sector is to immediately introduce procedures that limit the amount of aircraft that are being introduced into the system. This mitigation has unfortunate commercial consequences and is instigated when no other alternatives such as additional staffing are available. A technological solution to prioritize the verbal interruptions received by a controller was required.
An additional problem was that in many air traffic control facilities, flight data is produced and recorded on strips of paper. These are sometimes passed on to other controllers and form part of the permanent record of air traffic control decisions. The problem arises when only hard copy paper procedures are used in the coordination and communication of flight data since tactical changes and decisions must be fed to others who may interact with flights.
A requirement existed for a system to automate the cumbersome procedure of updating and communicating flight data. In order to effect such a change the system would have to meet several key and relatively unique requirements:
Firstly, because safety critical decisions are based upon the flight data information, all possible effort must be taken to ensure the system is designed so that data is transmitted intact securely, and with timely delivery.
Secondly, the system must be utilized to disseminate information across a large geographical area to a significant number of clients and therefore must make maximum use of technical innovations to meet this and the first requirement at the same time.
Finally, and most important the system must seamlessly integrate, to the maximum extent possible, into the air traffic controllers work environment such that the proven operational procedures that have been developed need not be significantly modified.